There are many books, blogs, and professional services offering advice on how to write a stellar cover letter. From the structured and conservative cover letter to the more risqué and controversial, we can find examples of them all. (See my very own blog post here). One simple aspect of cover letter writing that does not often garner enough attention is ensuring one uses the correct spelling and grammar.

Spelling and grammatical errors are the biggest cover letter blunder.

Sure, spelling is something which is easy to check. We all just revert to the spell-checker in Microsoft Word, and the job’s done. Nonetheless, spelling mistakes still creep through. For example, if one was meaning to type “with”, but instead types “wit”, Word would not flag this, as “wit” it also a word. It is for this reason that checking grammar is also of paramount importance. Another mistake I have seen a countless number of times on cover letters is mistaking the contracted version of “you are” (you’re) for the second person possessive adjective “your”. These types of errors are unforgivable in a cover letter, and are enough to get your letter binned. So, make sure you triple check your cover letter before sending it off, and if you are not confident doing it yourself, seek the services of a friend or a professional.

I have recently come across a nice little free spelling and grammar checking tool called Grammarly. Grammarly proofreads your text for issues relating to grammar, spelling, style, punctuation, and plagiarism.

This blog post itself came up with a number of errors

Try Grammarly out for free here.

Attribution: ideastap.com

The employment scene for fresh college graduates is still not very encouraging, but you can increase your chances of getting a job if you are aggressive in your search. A cover letter is an important document, and, if used wisely, can help you win a lot of interview calls. Hiring experts believe candidates can open new doors of opportunities for themselves by sending customized cover letters. If you are unsure about how to customize cover letters, the following tips will come in handy:

1. Research the company

To stand out from the crowd, it is important that you don’t send the same cover letter to all employers. Instead, customize your cover letter according to your employer’s needs and the business culture of the organization. To be able to do this, you must first research the company in which you are applying for a job.

2. Include relevant skills, education, and activities

You may lack real-job experience, but you can more than make up for it and attract the attention of the recruiter by mentioning skills, education, and activities that are relevant to the job in your cover letter. For example, if you are applying for a job of web developer and had developed websites as a hobby during the college years, include this information in your cover letter. Similarly, if you are applying for a job of tourist guide and had some experience in organizing trips, mention that information in the cover letter.

Recruiting experts recommend recent graduates to include your degree classification/GPA, seasonal jobs, and university leadership positions in their cover letters to impress the recruiters.

3. Convey your passion

For a recent graduate, motivation and passion for a job could be his/her selling point. If you can convey this in your cover letter, you stand a great chance of getting interview calls.

Recruiters give preference to candidates who are genuinely interested in the kind of job they are looking for. To understand this point better, consider the following example:

Two candidates apply for the job of a VB specialist. Both candidates have same qualifications, but one had used his skills to streamline the database of his college. Who do you think the recruiter is likely to call for an interview and why?

The candidate who did a project for his college is more likely to win a call for the interview, because he showed that he is walking the talk.

Thus, it is necessary for you to mention in your cover letter one or two important examples from your hobbies, interests, or life choices which show that your proclivities are aligned with your employer’s vision, goals, and projects.

4. Keep your cover letter short and to the point

Many newcomers make the mistake of including a lot of unnecessary information in their cover letter. It is recommended that you don’t do so, as it hurts your chances of getting shortlisted for the interview by a great deal. Keep your cover letter short by including only key points that would catch the attention of the recruiting manager.

In the first paragraph, mention the position for which you are applying. Follow up the introductory paragraph with five to six bullet points mentioning key qualifications that are relevant to the job. Round up your cover letter with a bang by stating how you can make a positive contribution to the organization and by boldly asking for an interview.

This guest post was written by Erik Larson of ResumeIndex.com. He is a master’s level career counselor and internationally certified as a Career Management Practitioner (CMP) by the Institute for Career Certification International.

Here are the 5 crucial steps to create an excellent covering letter:

1. Salutation

If you can’t find out the recipients name, then don’t’ write a cover letter.  Use whatever guerrilla tactics it takes to get the name of the person who will be doing the hiring for the position

2. An opening paragraph with chutzpa!

Your opening paragraph must grab their attention. Take yourself out of the comfort zone and write something this

3. The what-I-can-do-for-you paragraph

Do your research, and find out exactly what kind of skill-set the employer is looking for. Along with this, also find out what sort of challenges the company is presently facing. Now present solutions to both of these in the form of you and your expertise. Example here

4. The call-to-action paragraph

This paragraph consolidates what you have written above, and also takes a more holistic view of your overall experience. It must be written in a way which encourages the employer to go on and read your CV

5. The extra-mile conclusion

In addition to ending with the usual pleasantries, you should also mention that you will contact them at a particular time on a particular day. If this is not convenient for them, then they could email/phone you to reschedule. Being proactive like this is important because it shows you are able to use your initiative and you hungry for the job.

For a great book on Cover Letters, check out: Brilliant Cover Letters, by James Innes

Do you have hot tips when it comes to writing a covering letter? Please feel free to share them below

Sit down one night, and construct a letter, a really good letter, addressed to the CEO, Managing Director, or whoever is at the ‘top of the pile’. This letter should be very different to your usual cover letter. This letter should be about what you can do for the company. Open with an introductory paragraph about yourself, and then go on to mention in concrete terms what you can ‘bring to the table’

These should include any of the following:

• How you can make the company money

• How you can save the company money

• How you can improve efficiency

To substantiate your claims, you will need to provide examples of when you have done this in the past.

You see, HR are not as concerned about these sort of attributes. They are more focused on whether you are a team player. This is really a euphemism for not possessing the potential to ‘rock the boat’. They want people that will fit in, not people that are game changers and have the chutzpa to challenge existing assumptions.

CEO’s and Managing Directors on the other hand are looking for these sort of characteristics, because at the end of the day, these are the sort of attributes that will keep their business abreast of competition and adapting to changing market conditions.

Finally, remember, DO NOT email this letter, as there is a high risk that your desired prospect may not read it. This for a multitude of reasons – went into his/her spam folder, someone else manages his/her email, or he/she just overlooked it. By posting the tangible form, there is no way that they can ignore it. They may open and then tear it up, but at least they been obliged to start reading it before making a judgment call.